a blog for the dolls

Archive for April, 2010

The big drill competition was on Saturday (the Seattle Drill Team Association All City Competition). It was awesome. There were 2 new teams, and one team that’s been MIA for the last few years. Highlanders marched an A team and a B team. North Queens took first and Highlanders took second in the competition and the drilldown. Exactly how I wanted them to place. Wish I could have competed. Diane asked me to write a letter about what All City means to me. I sapped it up a lot and here it is:

Dear Highlanders,

All City is almost here! I’m writing this letter to share with you why April is my favorite month of the year. And it wouldn’t be my favorite without drill.

Here’s a quick introduction for those who don’t know me. I have marched in 8 All Cities: 5 as a North Queen and 3 as a Highlander. That includes the excitement of representing my team in the drilldown 5 times. I have cheered on from the stands at 6 All Cities, and I’ve cheered in my heart for all the ones I couldn’t make it to.

All City has a special place in my heart, even though a few years have passed since I’ve been allowed to march in one. I can remember how important I feel when I’m in my uniform at its sharpest and my boots at their shiniest. I can remember the butterflies that start flying inside of me the minute we enter the inspection room. And I remember how thrilling it is to be able to show my family, friends, teammates, and even opponents how hard we’ve worked on our routine.

For me the excitement of All City extends well beyond the day of the competition. The extra practices make school a little bit harder and scheduling other tasks trickier. But spending more time with the team would always spark my team spirit even more. When this time of year comes, orange shows up in my wardrobe even more frequently. And it feels so good to answer questions about my outfit with “Orange is my drill team’s color. We have a big competition coming up.” Just last year I wore orange for every one of the last 5 days before the competition. It still makes me feel proud.

And I know this feeling will continue for years to come. My mommy tells me so. I am lucky to share the drill team experience with my mom. She marched on the Ballard Girls Drill Team in the 60s. She would tell me that she remembers the shiny boots, the butterflies, and the thrills, but not a single step of the routines. And when she would watch me march her memories would grow stronger. This year we will sit together and watch you march, and we can share all of those feelings.

So I want to thank you all for marching in the competition, so that my mom and I have something to get excited about again. May there always be an All City competition to make the month of April the most exciting of the year.

I’ve crossed over to the dark side. I got cable. And internet. And phone (though it’s not working, and the Comcast guy can’t come back until next week some time). I got a new computer too. It’s purple. My experience at Best Buy was pretty funny. I was talking to the guy rather intelligently comparing processors and memory and hard drive space, and then I said, “oh, this one comes in purple. I want the purple one.” And if I had any of the Best Buy guy’s respect, I lost it at that moment. But I have a new computer, and it’s purple, so I don’t care. Now I just have to figure out why new windows keep appearing at random times. Maybe because my hand is resting on the touchpad as I type? Not sure.

about this blog

My name is Marjorie. In most respects I am a grown up, in that I'm old enough to be a grown up and I have a full time job. I'm Marjorie. I'm a grown up. I love my dolls. I'm a Mormon.
I have recently decided to dedicate this blog to my dolls. Maybe I think they need to make more friends on the internet. I currently collect American Girl, Maplelea, A Girl for All Time, and Carpatina. I have others too...I look forward to you meeting all of my dolls. Have a nice day.